D's Notebook

Tag: football (Page 9 of 28)

D’s Notes

December 23, 2021 /

KU Hoops

Well, I was hoping to post another Jayhawk Talk entry this week. I was looking forward to seeing how KU played three days after struggling to put away a Stephen F. Austin team that exposed some of their deficiencies. Alas, Colorado had some players test positive, the game got wiped from the schedule, and the Christmas break begins early for the Jayhawks.

Which leaves the big KU hoops news of the week the announcement that KU will play Indiana the next two years. It took 19 years but it’s finally happening: the Jayhawks vs. the Hoosiers on campus!1 What timing, too. KU will come to Bloomington in December 2023, when I just might have a freshman on campus. Wacky, wild stuff!

The 1990s series between the schools was great. Well, for KU fans it was, since the Jayhawks went 5–1 against the Hoosiers, including two wins in the NCAA tournament. The game in Lawrence in December 1993 – the Jacque Vaughn game – was the best game I’ve ever attended.

Covid and Sports

All sports leagues are struggling at the moment, as both the protection offered by vaccines begins to waver for those who got their shots last spring and the Omicron variant takes hold. Once again we are seeing how well-meaning policies and guidance have often been short-sighted. Protocols that were put in place over the summer now seem hopelessly outdated and ineffective because, to go back to a favorite phrase from the spring of 2020, the situation is fluid. Leagues, rightly, are reluctant to move too quickly in making adjustments as they wait on advice from government and health officials and a better idea of exactly how dangerous Omicron is.

I’m not sure what the right answer is. Allowing fully vaccinated players who test positive but show no symptoms to continue to compete seems like the right move at first consideration. But aren’t those players still able to spread the virus even if they have avoided its worst effects? So do we start limiting crowds again? Or only letting in fully-vaccinated fans to prevent the spread if we let those players on the court?

Or should leagues hit the pause button, as the NHL has done? Would stopping games for 10–14 days allow this rapidly spreading wave to subside a bit, give officials a better idea of exactly what we’re facing, and perhaps prevent a longer delay after the holidays pass?

While their policies may be frustrating, at least professional sports are controlled by a central body that keeps everyone on the same set of rules. In college sports it’s totally different, with each conference having slightly different standards. College sports, subject to the political whims of all 50 states and the various priorities of dozens of different conferences, are a mess. The NCAA has provided all kinds of guidance, and is working closely with the CDC to adjust that guidance as needed. But the fact remains that an organization that is quick to jump in and control what schools/conferences do when there is money to be made (and take their large cut in the process) is largely toothless when it comes to protecting players, coaches, and fans.

BTW, S and I are boosted. M gets her third shot next week. We did have a scare in the house a couple weeks back, but the Covid test was negative and we think the kid in question had either the regular flu or just a terrible cold. Fortunately it never hit the rest of us.

Tiger

We had a fairly busy weekend so I wasn’t able to watch any of the PNC Father/Son golf tournament. Which bummed me out because my Twitter feed was electric about Tiger and Charlie Woods putting on a show all weekend. I don’t know what people were more amazed by: the fact that Tiger was upright and playing good golf, or how freaking good his kid is.

Who knows how healthy Tiger actually is and if his efforts are repeatable. He rode in a cart all week; doing so in a regular tour event will require approval from the PGA. I imagine they would jump at giving him one, ironic given how hard they fought to keep Casey Martin out of one 20-some years ago. Whether Tiger’s body can hold up to 72 holes of high-level golf is another matter. Regardless of his future, it is stunning that he had been able to recover to this level.

Pacers

The Pacers are kind of a mess. Which is unusual. Aside from the mid–2000s, post-Brawl era, the franchise is usually pretty boring and steady. They are always solid, occasionally great. They never get a high lottery draft pick. They don’t make much news that draws attention nationally.

This year has been different. There seems to be a lot of discontent in the locker room. There are players who don’t like their roles, some who are frustrated by not winning, and others who have issues with the front office.

It reached the point where owner Herb Simon had to meet with select media last week to ensure them he loved this team and that he thought they were fully capable of getting their shit together and winning some games. This came just as there were reports that he might finally relent from his long-held policy of refusing to tank for a high draft pick. He has said he would rather be mediocre and sell as many tickets as possible than tell the fans the team is going to suck for a few years and deal with a huge attendance loss.

The chatter is he may be wavering because the Pacers’ attendance this year has been near the bottom of the entire league. I think there’s also finally some acceptance that while they have a lot of nice players, they have the wrong mix of nice players. Too many guys who do the same thing and no true stars. There’s no Jermaine O’Neal, Danny Granger, or Paul George on this roster: a young, talented player who can blossom into a top 20 player if the team is patient enough.

The Colts are the far more important franchise around town these days, and have been since Peyton arrived. But I’ve talked to a few guys who have been big Pacers fans their entire lives who are pissed about where the team is. When you have such a small, loyal fan base and they begin to turn on the team, it seems like ownership has to do something drastic to keep their interest and to have any hopes of grabbing the attention of the rest of the city.

NFL

My attention given to the Colts this year has been waaaaay less than last year. I’m not sure why. I’ve watched way less of the NFL in general this year. Again, I’m not sure why.

The Colts seem to be rolling, though. And my limited viewing tells me that this may be the widest open playoffs in recent memory. So perhaps the Colts can overcome that brutal opening stretch of the season and make some noise in the playoffs.

Ha! Very funny! You can’t trust Carson Wentz in the playoffs!

Forget Covid and who may/may not be available: is there a single team you really trust to win 3–4 games in January? I would assume the Chiefs are, once again, the favorite as they’ve righted the ship from their mid-season swoon. But each time a team seems poised to stake a claim as the clear best team in the league, they lay a big fat egg. So maybe that means the Chiefs play a Wild Card in both the AFC title game and Super Bowl? I don’t know; I haven’t watched enough to have any idea what to expect.

1. The only time the schools have played since I moved to Indy was in Hawaii in November 2016 with the Hoosiers winning in overtime.

Weekend Notes

November 22, 2021 /

Our house smells different this morning. Some of that is a real change in the aromatics that are spread around, some of it is the smell of anticipation. As we begin a Thanksgiving week unlike any other in our family’s history, some notes from the weekend.

Friday was semi state for high school football in Indiana. Cathedral played a school from down near Louisville that only advanced because their regionals opponent, who had beaten them by 30 in the regular season, was missing their starting quarterback and running back. CHS was up 14–0 about three minutes into the game, gave up a long touchdown, then proceeded to score another 28 points in the first half, cruising to a 52–13, mercy rule assisted win.

It is back to the state title game against Zionsville for the second-straight year. The schools have two common opponents. CHS was 2–0 in those games; ZHS 0–2. ZHS has improved on offense this year. This could be CHS’ best defensive team in recent memory. The computer rankings suggest that CHS is a 16 point favorite. That feels about right.

M and C both went to the game. They were more concerned with what happened afterward, though. The local TV station that awards a spirit banner to the best student section each fall was down to its two finalists: CHS and the Catholic school up in Hamilton County. Both schools had been pulling out all the stops on social media in recent weeks to earn the award. At about 11:20, on live TV, CHS won the banner. I think M was more excited about that than she’s been about anything this year. This should give the “We got spirit” cheer a little extra heft for the next year.

Saturday was my annual Mow the Yard day. I borrowed our old mower from my sister-in-law and ran it around the house to take care of the leaves. Which means there’s like a 50–50 shot our lawn service will show up today for the first time in a month. I do this once each fall and it always reinforces our choice to pay someone else to mow weekly. Even though I just mowed around the house (for those of you who know our land setup), it still took me over two hours. It was chilly but dry and I got some steps in. Glad that’s a once-per-year activity, though.

I spent most of Saturday afternoon actually watching KU football. Who would have guessed that? I figured the Jayhawks would come out and lay a big, fat egg after beating Texas last week. So I was shocked they stayed in the game the entire 60 minutes. Who knows if the result, a three-point loss on a field goal in the final 10 seconds, would have been different if Devin Neal hadn’t gotten hurt late in the first half. He’s the real deal and was gouging the Frogs’ D. Props to the offense for coming back after falling behind by 14 points. Jalon Daniels made some mistakes this week, but shook them off to key the rally. And how about last week’s hero Jared Casey getting legit minutes and making some big plays?!?!

Man, that defense can not tackle, though, which was they key to the game. Wrap up properly and KU wins easily. TCU, like Texas, is a mess. But being in the game and having a real shot to win is a huge step for the KU program. Now go get some dudes, Lance!

I haven’t watched a ton of the Colts this year. Their early season bad streak, some vaccine issues on the roster, and plenty of Sunday youth basketball meant I missed or had little interest in many of their games. Lately I’ve taken to going to the gym when the Colts are in, knowing I can knock out a quick workout during that window when the gym isn’t super busy.

But I watched a lot yesterday. And they were impressive. I know there are a lot of factors that go into their hot streak. The biggest, though, has clearly been reigning in Carson Wentz and letting Jonathan Taylor destroy people. Which is cool because that should have a much better chance to work in the playoffs over letting Carson chuck it 48 times.

They have Tampa and New England in the next few weeks, so we’ll see how real this winning streak is.

I’ve become a much more casual NFL watcher, too. I enjoy the Colts games when they win, but don’t get too upset when they lose. I’m happiest on Sundays just finding an entertaining game to watch and keeping one eye on it while I do other things.

Finally, I mentioned above that this is a unique Thanksgiving week for us. I’ve hinted at this several times but it is time for the reveal: assuming our flights all go as planned (knock on wood), we are spending a week in Kauai, beginning this Wednesday.

That’s it! That’s the big one!

This is our rescheduled trip from the summer of 2020. We attempted to lock it in for last summer, but the islands continued to require a two-week quarantine too deep into the season for us to make that work. We thought about Christmas but knew that would be super expensive. Plus we worried about a third surge (this was before the late summer Delta surge) hitting right before the holidays and things shutting down again. So we booked for Thanksgiving. We are all very excited, as you can imagine. And hopeful last month’s air traffic issues don’t pop up again.

We got the suitcases out a week ago and have been building piles of clothes, and Sunday was the day to really get organized. Other than last minute additions and toiletries, we are probably 95% packed.

We leave here mid-day Wednesday and will arrive after midnight Eastern time, which will be fun. Our return flights have already changed twice and we are coming back a day earlier than originally scheduled because of that. We’ll spend all next Tuesday getting home. Hopefully. We went from a two-flight trip home to a three-flight run, and there is one tight connection in there, so I guess we’ll see if we make it home in the early hours of next Wednesday or sometime later that day if we have issues.

As part of that, while we were listening to the CHS game Friday, L and I got a bunch of Christmas decorations out. Which is a huge upset, right?!?! We got just about everything but the big tree put up. We didn’t have time to get to that over the weekend so it will be saved for our return. The stockings are hung, the decorative pillows have been swapped out, and all the Christmas candles and wax melters have the house smelling delightful and festive. No Christmas music yet, though. Because I still have some standards.

What a Night: KU Football?!?!

November 15, 2021 /

Holy shit!


There aren’t a lot of big, important, communal memories surrounding Kansas football.

For those of us who were in school in the early 90’s, there was the Monte Cozzens game, when KU beat Oklahoma. For the few of us who stuck it out through the cold, there was the Tony Sands game.

The Mangino era brought an epic win over Nebraska, an Orange Bowl victory, and a game-winning, fourth down play against Missouri in the snow.

Since then, though? Nothing. When you average two wins a year over a decade, it’s tough to make memories.

It doesn’t matter than it came in what is likely to be a two-win season, against a mediocre, underachieving, injury-ravaged Texas team that seemed half checked-out mentally: Saturday’s 57–56 overtime win in Austin was one of the biggest moments in KU football history.

The fact that’s not even a question sums up how crappy KU football history is. So what? It is a game those of us who watched/listened/attended will never forget it.

A 31-point underdog, who hadn’t won a conference road game in over 13 years, and who replaced its coaching staff after spring practice was complete, went down and whipped a team that has 52 four or five star recruits on its roster. KU, for comparison, has one such recruit on its roster, freshman running back Devin Neal, who probably only went to Kansas because he grew up in Lawrence. A team that, yes, had given Oklahoma a scare three weeks ago, but had been hammered in the two games since. A team that was starting a talented but still third-string quarterback because of injuries to the two guys in front of him.

Sure, make fun of us for getting so excited about winning two games this season, and beating the most overrated program in the game. We haven’t had too many moments to celebrate wins since the Mangino era ended with a seven-game losing streak. This was like another Orange Bowl for us.

What a night it was! We do not have ESPNU, so I thought I would follow the game on ESPN.com early while I watched the Pacers and other football games on TV. I doubted I would have to give the KU game much attention.

A long drive and score, a strip-sack, another score and suddenly KU was up 14–0 and the text threads were blazing and my computer screen had my attention.

Texas tied it, KU retook the lead, and then I had to run out and pick up L from a friend’s house. Which was ok, because I have Sirius in my car and could listen to the game. In the time it took me to get from the living room to the car, KU forced another fumble and quickly scored. By the time I got to the second stop light from our house, Jacobee Bryant was running in a pick-six to give KU a 21-point lead and I was screaming into my phone, trying to send a voice memo to friends.[1]

I got home at halftime and started scrambling to find the game somewhere. I pay for ESPN+, but since our cable package doesn’t include ESPNU, I was blocked from the TV feed.[2] For some reason my car still has a bunch of Sirius stations I am not paying for and should not have, but when I launch the app on my phone those don’t show up, so I couldn’t listen there. I wondered if I should just go take a two-hour drive to listen to the second half.

Years ago I bought an audio subscription directly from KU to listen to all the games on my computer. This was back when the football team was decent and a couple basketball games each year were not televised. I couldn’t recall if there was such a service anymore, but figured it was worth checking the KU Athletics page. Amazingly, they stream audio from games for free now! So I was able to listen to all of the second half and overtime. It would have been more fun to watch, but it did feel like back in college, when each Saturday we sat in our dorm rooms and followed road games on the radio, flipping up and down the dial to catch parts of K-State and Missouri games, too.

KU pushed the lead back to 21, and Texas started their inevitable, winning comeback. Or what I assumed would be an inevitable winning comeback. Because it was Kansas football, right? And eventually some of those four and five star recruits would show a little pride and do just enough for Texas to win.

KU made a horrible call on fourth down late in the fourth quarter, up 14, turning the ball over on downs. The call to go for it was correct: the KU D was not stopping Texas and they might as well try to get the yard. But calling a timeout and then sneaking it was plain dumb. A friend pointed out how many times in KU football history the team had come up a yard short on a huge play that turned the game. No one tracks these things, but KU has to hold the NCAA record for failing in those situations.

A few snaps later the lead was seven and we were cursing the decision. Another quick three-and-out followed by a bad punt put Texas in great position. Until O.J. Burroughs picked off a Texas pass in the end zone with just over a minute left.

Game over, right?!?!

Of course not. Texas had all three timeouts left, forced a worse punt, and scored with 22 seconds left to tie the game.

There was anger on Twitter. It was going to be just like two years ago, when KU went to Austin and went toe-to-toe with the Longhorns only to lost on a last-second field goal. I resolved to take solace from two terrific performances against the two most talented teams in the conference showing that Lance Leipold was getting things moving in the right direction. “Get some good linemen and let Jalon Daniels and Devin Neal cook next year,” was my message to friends.

Texas scored easily on their overtime possession. And then they committed an unsportsmanlike penalty that shortened the field by 15 yards for KU on the ensuing drive. KU football getting a call against Texas late in a close game? This was unusual!

Neal banged it in to make it 56–55. I don’t think there’s a KU fan in the world who thought we should kick the PAT. Fucking go for it! There was nothing to lose.

What followed was a play that will live forever in KU football history. It was nearly 11:00 Eastern time. L was asleep. C was cleaning the basement after having friends over. M was out-and-about. S was sitting four feet from me, watching a movie with headphones on. When Brian Hanni yelled, “It’s caught! It’s caught! Kansas will win!” I let out my own yell, smacked the coffee table loudly, and then yelled again. The MacBook Air almost went flying.

S gave me a disapproving look and went back to her movie.

Then, even better, walk-on Jared Casey, playing his first offensive snap of the season, is the guy who catches the pass? With his parents watching from the opposite end, recording it as they slowly realized he made the winning catch?

I mean, come on. Even the coldest, blackest hearted, KU-hating K-State or Mizzou fan can appreciate the joy in that moment.

What happened next reminded me of the night the Royals won the World Series in 2015. I listened to over an hour of postgame coverage (props to KU for including all of that on their feed). I un-muted the TV each time a highlight popped up on ESPN. I liked every fun, funny, and happy post that came through Twitter. I celebrated via text and Facebook messages with friends.

After only 21 wins in 11 seasons. After going almost L’s entire life without a Big 12 road win; the last win came the day after she was born. After all the mediocrity and ineptness and terrible coaching and bad players and straight embarrassment. This felt bigger than beating Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Or hanging 76 on Nebraska.

We all know it’s not. But when you suffer this long, you’ll make any positive moment bigger than it actually is.

The big thing, though, is I felt hope for the first time since I can’t remember when. It may be misguided, or more likely premature. This win was flukey, to be sure. TCU and West Virginia may both wax KU the next two weeks. But for the first time since Mangino left, it feels like the coach has a plan on how to get better and has buy-in from his players. There are a bunch of solid to good young guys on the roster. For the first time since maybe that Missouri game in the snow, it was Kansas who made the winning plays, not the opponent. The overall vibe around the program just feels different now. That vibe might be a tease, and we could still be years from it paying dividends.

But for one night in Austin – and in Indy, Kansas City, or wherever KU fans were watching from – we felt like we could see the light at the end of the tunnel we’ve been seeking for so long.

  1. I failed. Which is probably a good thing.  ↩

  2. Which is total horseshit, by the way  ↩

Weekend Sports

October 18, 2021 /

Another busy weekend filled with sports of various sorts.

Friday night was the biggest high school football game in Indiana this year: 6A #1 Center Grove at 5A #1 Cathedral. Center Grove was ranked in the top ten nationally in every one of those “polls.” Cathedral was ranked as high as 14th but more often down in the 30s nationally. Both teams were undefeated. Neither team had really been challenged all season. Center Grove hadn’t lost since the 2019 state championship game. Cathedral’s only loss in the last two seasons was to Center Grove last year on a touchdown with 16 seconds left in the game. Center Grove has a quarterback going to Tennessee; a defensive lineman who will choose between Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Clemson among others; another lineman going to Louisville; a third lineman who was committed to Miami (OH) but is now looking at Power 5 schools; and a safety who is going to Cincinnati. Cathedral has three really good juniors who should all be Power 5 recruits.

So anticipation was high. M and C both went and were super excited that some nationally-known Tik Tok dude was coming to the game. Also a lot of students from the other two Indy Northside Catholic schools skipped their games to come watch.

I knew the crowds would be a nightmare and the weather was expected to be bad, so I stayed home and listened on the radio.

It was a hell of a game…for the first 30 minutes or so. The field – which is natural grass – was in awful shape because of heavy rain Thursday night and during the day Friday. That slowed both teams down, but probably affected CG more. Cathedral was much better offensively in the first half but only had a field goal to show for their efforts, leading 3–0 at halftime. They recovered a fumble on the second play of the third quarter and turned that into three more points. A drive or two later they were moving the ball and went for it on fourth down and two inside the CG 10. The quarterback had a lane, planted to cut, and lost his footing, coming up inches short of the marker.

Four plays later Center Grove ripped off a 67 yard touchdown to take the lead. That energized their defense and Cathedral didn’t move the ball the rest of the game. In the fourth quarter CG had a third and 13 and converted it into a 47 yard TD pass. They punched in a touchdown in the closing seconds to win 21–6.

So Cathedral out-gained CG. They ran more plays. They held CG to over 100 yards below their season average in both rushing and offense. And still lost by two scores. Man…

State playoffs start this week. The #2 team in 5A is in Cathedral’s sectional, but they aren’t due to play until the final in two weeks (Reminder: in Indiana everyone makes the playoffs and sectionals are not seeded). Cathedral got through Center Grove without any notable injuries – or at least that we know of yet – so remain the favorites to repeat as 5A champs Thanksgiving weekend.

Saturday we loaded up the entire family and headed down to Bloomington for the IU-Michigan State game. It was homecoming and the perfect excuse for both the girls’ first college football game and M’s first unofficial campus visit. S’s aunt and uncle shared their tickets with us and we joined in their tailgating group. Or at least for part of it. There is a ton of construction between Indy and Bloomington so we only made it down for the last 45 minutes or so of the pregame hang out.

I cracked up when someone walking by dropped a mini-bottle of Fireball and it landed right in front of our girls. They all started giggling and stepped away so it didn’t look like it was theirs.

The storms Thursday finally flipped the weather from late summer to early fall and it was nearly perfect, at least inside the stadium where the wind was blocked. Outside it was a little blustery and chilly.

Our tickets were fantastic, 40 yard line, 26 rows up. I’ve been inside IU’s stadium a couple times but much higher up. When you have good seats their stadium is nice and tight and there are great site lines.

IU played terrific defense for most of the game, shutting down a potent MSU offense, but a pick six kept the Spartans in it. We left at the end of the third quarter so we could walk around campus a bit and beat traffic out of town, but the girls did seem to enjoy the game.

One of their favorite things was a super drunk guy a few rows in front of us. He was in that too happy, too enthusiastic phase of drunkeness through most of the first half. He was 45% more fired up about good plays than anyone around him. Stood on plays when no one else was standing. Tried to high five people he didn’t know that were 10 seats away. His girlfriend or whoever kept trying to shush him and make him sit down.

He made us all about piss ourselves after he took a restroom break. He returned, but walked right past our row to one about 10 closer to the field. We watched as he slowly made his way to what would have been his seat if that was his row and take an empty place. The people he slid in between were all giving him odd looks. He casually looked around trying to find his friends. Meanwhile they were sitting in their proper spots, laughing their asses off and taking pictures of him. I’m not sure if he figured it out or someone down there told him he was in the wrong spot but after a minute or two he slunk back up with a wry grin on his face.

After halftime he was struggling. He no longer stood to watch the game but sat, staring at the ground in front of him. He stood up to head towards the bathroom and had the drunken lean going. He made it out but we never saw him return. Ahh, homecoming!

At the end of the first half IU attempted a 55 yard field goal as time expired. The ball would be placed at the 45 yard line so that’s about as easy math as you can do to figure the distance. There were some guys two rows behind us who were drunkenly arguing whether it was a 35 or 37 yard attempt. That made me laugh.

Sadly we got to see one of S’s former patients get injured. Hopefully it’s not serious as he walked off the field but he did not return, which is not a good sign.

I did think it was super cool that they play “Jack and Diane” between the third and fourth quarters. When you have a song like that by a local artist, you have to go with it. We were across from the student section so heard them roaring “Oh yeahhhhhhh, life goes on…” as we exited.

We did a little walking and driving around to show M a bit of campus then back on the interstate just as the game ended to avoid the crush getting out of town.

All-in-all a really fun day, other than the Hoosiers losing. M really has no idea where she wants to go but seems focused on larger state schools. I’m guessing there will be visits to some other Big 10 schools in the next year. And two people asked, I assume with zero sarcasm, when she would be visiting for a KU game. That’s already tentatively on the schedule for next year…during basketball season.

Sunday L had a couple basketball scrimmages in lieu of another fall break tournament. Five schools got together and played two quick games each.

In the first game we played a school I don’t think we’ve ever played before. They were big but not super skilled and we ran them off the court, winning 32–15. I was glad we played them first.

In the second, we played the school we lost our season opener to. They won that game by nine but that score gave us more credit than we deserved. I’m pretty sure they were missing a girl that day, because they not only crushed us Sunday, but that missing girl went off.

She scored 24 and had 13 rebounds as they beat us by 20-some. It was 25–6 at halftime but our girls got their heads back in it and, other than that one girl, played them pretty evenly in the second half. This girl was unbelievable. She’s tall and about as thick as a pencil, but has everything in her game. She posted up and hit turn around J’s. She hit face-up shots. She hit two long jumpers. She hit tough shots on the break. She could handle the ball and made good passes. She was really damn good.

L played ok. She scored three in the first game and two in the second. She was 3–4 from the free throw line, which given how our team shoots is amazing. But she had jammed her left middle finger in warmups for the first game and was struggling to do anything with it. By the second game it was swollen and purple. All she could do with the ball was take one dribble with her left then go behind her back to the right. Unfortunately the girl guarding her in the second game 1) was a really good defender and 2) knew that move was coming, so would just be waiting for her on the right side. Once L did that move four straight times and the girl was just standing there, one step to the right waiting to cut her off. It was like L was caught in a loop.

Oh, and I got to help coach as the head coach was unavailable. I don’t know any of the plays so just yelled “GET BACK” and “WHO ARE YOU GUARDING?” a lot. That’s kind of fun, especially when these were “scrimmages” and not true games.

Now they have eight days off until the season picks back up again.

Weather and Sports

October 6, 2021 /

Mother Nature can’t figure out what she wants to do. For the past few days, if you’ve looked through a window to see what’s going on outside, you would assume fall has taken over. It’s been cloudy most of the times, flat out dreary a few times, so you would think you would need to bundle up a bit when you set outside. Yet it’s still been close to 80 most days, and it looks like it’s going to be warmer than that for the next several days.

Not that I’m complaining. I’d be pleased as punch if I could wear shorts and t-shirts until Thanksgiving. However, I would also like to bust out the fall clothing. The jeans, the chinos, the flannels, the quarter-zips. You know what I’m talking about.

Game two of the CYO basketball season was last night. L’s team was playing St. I, a school that is always good and has beaten us pretty easily every time we’ve played them going back to third grade. We heard before the game that one of St. I’s best 7th graders would not be available, but knowing they have three really good 8th graders, we figured it wouldn’t matter much.

It might have helped us a little. At least at the beginning. We held them scoreless for the first four minutes and change of the game! Granted, we were without a basket, too. But being tied is better than getting crushed.

Sadly that changed quickly. St I scored, put on their press, and next thing you knew, we were down 12–0.

It never got much better – although we did win the third quarter 6–5 – and the final was 37–10. St. I not only had better players, but they all know how to play together. They would set up our defense and then get exactly what they wanted.

Meanwhile our girls were throwing lazy passes, never setting screens for each other, not running the right plays, dribbling into triple teams, and taking bad shots. The gap between the teams with players and the teams with athletes sure gets more obvious as the girls get older.

We were playing in a very small gym where the stands are directly behind the benches, so we were able to listen in on timeout huddles. To break the St. I press, our coaches drew up a very simple play that involved three quick passes and one cut. Our girls went out and ran it every single play for the next five possessions. It didn’t matter that St. I’s figured it out after the first play and adjusted their defense accordingly. Our girls blindly threw the passes that the coaches had told them to throw, without looking to see if that pass was covered and someone else was open.

It was super frustrating to watch and made me very glad I’m not coaching this year. The girls are all good girls. But none of them play enough basketball to not totally panic when faced with a better team that is messing up what they try to do.

L went scoreless, going something like 0–4 or 0–5 from the field. She had a couple decent looks in close that she missed. The rest were panic shots she threw up because she was trapped in the lane. She had one assist but approximately 37 turnovers. Ugly all around.

CYO now takes three weeks off for the various fall breaks around the Archdiocese. Stupid. L’s team does play in a mini-tournament this weekend but otherwise will have a few weeks to try to regroup and figure things out before they play their most winnable game of the year on October 26.

Hey, the Colts finally got their first win on Sunday! Since it was L’s birthday and we had some other things going on, I did not give the game my full attention. I believe I said it a few weeks ago and I have to restate it: I don’t like Carson Wentz, but that dude plays hard. You see why coaches and GM’s love his potential. He can make plays happen that only a handful of QB’s can pull off. But there’s always the downside with him that guys like Patrick Mahomes don’t also have, where he will account for an ugly turnover or three in his efforts to make a big play. Plus the inevitability of a major injury as a result of his scampering around.

The Colts still have tough games three of the next four weeks before the schedule lightens up a bit. That 0–3 hole is going to be tough to dig out of, even in the soft AFC South.

For those of you interested, CHS went down to Cincinnati and hammered a really good Ohio team last Friday. It was their best performance of the year. Their young quarterback had the best game of his career, throwing for 340+ yards, and he did it without his #1 receiver. Two more games in the regular season, both against fellow #1 teams from Indiana.

Finally, I was not super excited about last night’s AL Wild Card game between the Yankees and Red Sox. I even watched a short movie earlier in the evening. I did catch the last three and a half innings, though, and it warmed my heart to see the Yankees get bounced. A lot of things change over time, but my Yankee hatred remains strong after over 40 years.

I don’t think I watched a Royals game after mid-June. That terrible stretch that began about five weeks into the season killed any enthusiasm I had about devoting time to watching their young guys develop.

I’m bummed I missed most of Salvador Perez’s monster season. It has been shocking how he keeps getting better despite getting older. I hope he has another couple great years left in him so he can attach them to a season in which the Royals are contending.

Also a shame that Nicky Lopez’s out-of-nowhere great year was wasted on a season that the Royals were never in the race. You could have talked me into a great Salvy season last spring. But Nicky Lopez? No freaking way. Fingers crossed it was repeatable and not a fluke.

Now to get Bobby Witt Jr. to the bigs and hope the young arms progress. That’s enough to get me watching again next April.

Some Sports From the Weekend

September 27, 2021 /

My sports weekend was a little more compressed than normal. We hosted several of M’s friends and their families Sunday evening, so we spent a lot of time prepping for them and then enjoying their company.

Friday night was CHS’ homecoming. We went to dinner with a couple other families and by the time we walked in, the Irish were already up 16–0 midway through the first quarter. It didn’t get any better. The coaches had agreed ahead of time to go to a running clock in the first half if needed. When CHS went up 37–0 with 8:30 left before the half the clock mercifully ran without pause. The final was 51–0, the final touchdown coming when CHS went for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter. The dads I was sitting with all gave each other confused looks. We decided it must be ok to go for it up 44 when you are playing freshmen.

Saturday was the most boring day of the young college season. Only two interesting games, and I didn’t have much time to devote to either Notre Dame – Wisconsin or Texas A&M – Arkansas.

KU played well on offense for about 40 minutes but then fell apart to get waxed by Duke. Fortunately, once again, the game was not on a station I have so I didn’t have to devote any energy to it.

Sunday was opening day for CYO basketball.[1] L’s team was playing St S, who is always really good. Their A team had a bunch of tall, athletic girls that play basketball year-round. We have a bunch of athletic but equally goofy girls, none of whom are very tall.

Our girls hung in for awhile. They made a nice run to start the second quarter and were only down 11–9. But they gave up a 10–0 run never recovered. They fought hard in the second half but could not overcome that first-half spurt, and lost 35–26.

St S was a much better team. They played like they knew what they were doing, where our girls were all scrambling around like lunatics and sometimes got a lucky shot that went in. We went 4–19 from the free throw line. We had roughly 75% of our shots in the paint partially or fully blocked. We let St S get at least 10 run outs for uncontested layups. Fortunately, even good teams in 7th–8th grade CYO ball miss open layups.

I told L after the game that was all something they could build on. Hit some free throws, don’t let girls get behind you on D, and be smarter on offense and they could have kept it competitive until the very end.

She only scored two. She missed one open layup and then a series of short jumpers or running shots near the rim. She went 0–2 from the line. She did make a couple nice passes, but there really wasn’t much chance for anyone to do anything on offense.

Her team has a super tough schedule. I think St S will be one of the three best teams they play, but don’t know if they are one, two, or three and what the gap between those teams are.

I watched almost no NFL Sunday. When I could get an eye on the Colts game they played well. But I obviously didn’t watch enough.

What I did watch a ton of, especially Friday and Saturday, was the Ryder Cup. The US team running away from Europe to win back the Cup was great to watch.

In my mind, there are two good outcomes at a Ryder Cup: the US winning in dominating fashion, and Europe winning a close one.

The first is cool because it means the US team is firing on all cylinders, which was the case this weekend.

The second is cool because US players always start throwing each other or their coaches under the bus and acting like petty teenagers. Since I have complicated fan relationships with so many golfers, I kind of enjoy having the reason to hate/mock them that comes with them losing.

This weekend, though, the US played their asses off. There was never a doubt about the result from the time the first four matches ended on Friday. They just kept cranking out wins, with almost every US player having a signature moment at some point.

The golf media gets all worked up when the US loses by suggesting that the US team members don’t have the same love for the competition, or ability to set aside their personal interests for the team’s, that teams of yore had. I always think that’s kind of bullshit. But even if it is true, I appreciate how much pressure the US plays under. Every Ryder Cup we hear about how much more talented the US team is. It has to kind of suck, no matter how much self confidence you have, to know that if your team loses you will be labeled as massive underachievers and have your motivation questioned.

All of that ignores golf is flukey as fuck, and any pro can beat any other pro in any given round. It also demeans the European team, acting like a squad with a lower average ranking is filled with chumps that were selected from a municipal driving range.

  1. For the hundredth time, CYO sports schedules are idiotic.  ↩

Weekend Sports Notes

September 14, 2021 /

A busy Monday kept me from getting this out yesterday, but allow me to share some brief sports notes from the weekend.

Friday we took the entire family to the 5A #1 Cathedral matchup with arch rival and defending 3A state champs BCHS. Well, L rode with S and I and then ran off with her friends the entire game. And M and C both rode to the game with friends. But we were all there!

BCHS is having a rough year and it continued as the Irish pounded them 38–14, a score that was closer than the game was. BC only scored because CHS fumbled twice deep in their own territory after the game was already pretty much over.

It was a beautiful night for football and the stadium was jam-packed for the rivalry. Or at least it was until halftime when a lot of folks checked out thanks to the 28–0 score.

I got home in time to see Coastal Carolina pull away from KU in the fourth quarter. Sounds like there were some encouraging moments, but the Jayhawks still have a lot of work to do. Quarterback Jason Bean might be the real deal, but will likely spend much of the Big 12 season running for his life. I’m cautiously optimistic that Lance Leipold is more like Mark Mangino than the last four coaches. It’s going to take time, though. As always…

Saturday I sat on my ass and watched a lot of college football. I was able to watch much of the Oregon-Ohio State game on the outside TV, which was fun. It got hot in mid-afternoon, though, so I had to scurry back into the air conditioning for the later games.

Sunday brought the Colts opener against the Seahawks. This season just has a stench about it that things are going to go poorly, between maybe too much hype for the team, one of the lowest vaccinated player rates in the league, and a quarterback who is almost guaranteed to get injured or play shitty. Or likely do both.

Seattle took care of the hype, dominating the Colts for four quarters. The offensive line, which should be a huge strength for the Colts, was awful. Maybe that’s just because a bunch of them had to sit out two weeks because of a positive Covid test and contact tracing. The Colts have a difficult front half of the schedule, so things could get ugly if they can’t figure their shit out quick.

Across all three days I caught big chunks of the US Open, including almost the entire women’s final on Saturday.

That final didn’t end up being very competitive, but didn’t take away from how fun it was to watch Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez march to the final. For Raducanu to be the first man or woman to win a major as a qualifier is absolutely astounding. Even more so because she didn’t lose a single set through the tournament. Raducanu and Fernandez coming along just as the Williams Sister Era seems to be ending might save women’s tennis, at least for viewers in America.

I’ve never been a big Novak Djokovic fan. But I couldn’t help but admire how he just refuses to lose. Which made his straight-set loss in the men’s final to Daniil Medvedev a massive shock. There was a moment in the third set, when he found himself down 4–0 and managed to win four games before Medvedev closed him out when Djokovic created a little burst on energy that he might charge all the way back. Only with him would you even entertain the possibility of coming back from two sets and two breaks down to win. None of us would have been surprised if he had pulled it off. Like him or not, he creates energy and drama, which makes watching his matches compelling.

It had been a few years since I watched much of the Open. I really enjoyed the matches I tuned in for this year. It helps that both the men and women have groups of exciting, young players beginning to make their presence known. If we could just get some Americans sprinkled among them I might be connived to pay as much attention to tennis as I did 30 years ago.

Weekend Sports Notes

September 7, 2021 /

It was the first weekend jam-packed with sports in a long time. Good thing we had a fourish-day weekend to squeeze it all in!1

Friday night I took C and three friends to the Cathedral football game (M was also there with her own friend group). The 2–0, class 5A #1 Irish played a perennial 6A power from up north that has fallen off a bit in the past couple seasons. CHS was up 37–0 at halftime, played subs the entire second half, and cruised to a running clock win by the same score. Next week they take on arch rivals Bishop Chatard, defending class 3A champs who are off to a rough 0–3 start.

KU was playing their season opener at the same time. I was able to follow most of the second half. Not the most confidence-building experience – a 17–14 win over South Dakota that required a last-minute touchdown to win – but I’m not sure how you properly assess anything this season since the new coaching staff came in after spring practice was complete. There was already a lot of work to be done and that just complicates matters more.

I had hoped the offensive line would be improved. Sounds like that’s not the case. Or at least not yet. Most of the big plays were made by young guys, though, so that has to be good. Then again, there aren’t a lot of old guys in front of them.

I heard from multiple people about KU students rushing the field. Yawn. 1) Those kids hadn’t seen a win in over two years. 2) They may not see another win for two more years. 3) Do you really think after everything KU fans have been through over the past decade I’m going to get fired up about kids rushing the field after barely beating an FCS team? That’s like the 150th worst thing that has gone on around this program since the 2008 Orange Bowl win.

I watched stretches of the US Open throughout the weekend. I’ve said this before but it’s tough to get invested in tennis when so many of the best players are A) from Eastern Europe (or their parents were from there) and B) I don’t pay much attention to tennis the rest of the year.

I’m sad I’ve missed all of the Leylah Fernandez experience so far. Carlos Alcaraz beating Stefanos Tsitsipas Friday was terrific fun. I also enjoyed watching Shelby Rogers beat Ashleigh Barty on Saturday. I missed Rogers’ loss on Monday but was disappointed that she was the second American player to speak out about the abuse she expected to take online after the loss. I just don’t get why you would berate any athlete for their performance. And harassing tennis players is especially baffling to me. Is there really a big pool of super-fired up tennis fans who go ballistic when people lose?

I don’t think so. I’m assuming it’s just frustrated, idiot gamblers or people who can only find pleasure in life by cutting other people down.

The Naomi Osaka situation was especially disheartening. This is clearly a woman who is not in a good mental place. And yet some people were almost gleeful that she lost and seemed on the verge of a breakdown, both emotionally and physically.

How do you root for someone to fall apart? And how do you not understand that even when someone is successful and famous and has money they can still face mental/emotional/physical challenges that overwhelm them?

The first full weekend of college football rolled through, too. I watched probably too much football on Saturday, even when we were hanging out with people in the evening. I spent the most time with eyes on Penn State – Wisconsin and Clemson – Georgia. Not well played, not very entertaining, but at least they were competitive.

There was a lot of hype going into the year for Indiana. Iowa took about 10 minutes to destroy most of it. But as an IU-fan relative told me Monday, 8–4 was what he expected and that’s still in play, no matter how ugly the Hoosiers looked Saturday.

I struggled a bit with seeing full stadiums and the constant chatter from the announcers about how great it was to be back to normal again. I had mixed feelings because we’re not back to normal. And the arguments about how to make things better just keep getting less-and-less constructive as the deniers dig in deeper and deeper. This fall should have been the time when we were truly reopening and getting back to normal. But Covid numbers are skyrocketing, schools are going back to masks, and it feels like this is just a momentary blip before large crowds start getting banned again because too many people think being asked to wear a piece of cloth across their face is some great impingement on their freedoms.

I had never heard of Duke’s Mayo before Saturday. And I had no idea it was a big enough deal to sponsor the premier prime time matchup of week one.

I watched a few minutes here-and-there of LSU-UCLA. I expected an easy LSU win. I was not expecting UCLA to pull away and win comfortably.

While watching I had the thought that when Chip Kelly left Oregon, it totally derailed both him and the Oregon program. When he left it seemed like just a matter of time before Oregon won a national title. The Ducks have had a couple good seasons since he departed, but several mediocre ones and even a 4–8 season. Kelly, meanwhile, was a disaster in the NFL and seemed close to being done at UCLA.

But maybe he has something going in Westwood, finally.

Lastly, the Solheim Cup in women’s golf was fantastic. In a mild upset, the European team beat the Americans 15–13. I was struck by how different the Solheim’s entire vibe was from how the Ryder Cup will be in a couple weeks. At the Ryder Cup there are always a couple guys on both teams who are way too fired up and take the slightest possible sign of disrespect as some great challenge to their manhood and team’s legitimacy. By Sunday the red asses have taken over and the entire event is weighed down by that intensity. While there are some moments of genuine respect as the singles matches finish, you are just as likely to see opponents get the post-match handshake over as quickly as they can.

There were a few moments of disagreement and conflict this weekend amongst the women. But none of them turned into big deals. Brief handshakes were the exception, with most competitors hugging after their matches regardless of the score. The crowds also seemed way less unruly than Ryder Cup crowds do.

All the bullshit that goes along with the Ryder Cup is kind of fun, to be honest. I’m always rooting for there to be extremely bad blood during and after, because it makes golfers look silly.

The Solheim Cup, though, was just about good, fun competition.

Jayhawk Talk

May 19, 2021 /

Some thoughts on the latest goings on with University of Kansas athletics.

KU football

I mostly sat out the search for the latest KU football coach. I was aware of the biggest names that were getting thrown around – Buffalo’s Lance Leipold and Army’s Jeff Monken – but I refused to invest much time or emotional energy into following the process.

I assumed whoever KU hired, it would be the wrong choice.

Thus, when KU announced Leipold as the man, I immediately texted some friends saying, “Should have hired the Army guy.”

Because odds are no matter how different this search was to the previous four, KU will still have managed to make the wrong choice, right? They were too cautious. Or too daring. Went too old. Or too young. Too much experience at the wrong level, or not enough experience period. Chose the offensive guy when they should have picked the defensive savant. Or vice versa. After ten years of always making the wrong choice, it’s hard to have any faith that this time will be any different.

Football people seem to think it was a good choice. Leipold isn’t flashy, but insiders say he possesses the traits needed to tackle the most difficult public school, Power 5 job in the country. He’s won by tweaking his offensive schemes to match his talent. He was immensely successful at lower levels of college football, and his process seemed to translate to a MAC school. The several million dollar question is can it translate to Kansas, where football coaches go to die?

There was a part of me that leaned towards Monken simply because he would, even if it wasn’t the full triple option he runs at Army, implement a run-first offense. I’ve long been a proponent of not using the same offensive concepts most of the Big 12 runs with the 10th best talent. Monken also, reportedly, had been planning explicitly for the KU job for several years.

A friend pointed out that going to a pure running offense immediately could destroy all the hard work that had gone into rebuilding the scholarship numbers, since most of the offense was recruited to run a passing system. KU has already lost some players to the portal since Leipold was announced, ironically most on the defensive side of the ball. Who knows if hiring Monken really would have created a mass exodus on offense, but from purely a roster retention standpoint, Leipold may have been the smarter choice.

Even if Leipold is 100% the right guy, any enthusiasm for his hire is tempered by knowing it will still take a lot of extremely hard work to generate even the smallest glimmer of hope for the program. It’s been a long 11 years. A lot of Saturdays of KU grads standing on soccer pitches, cross country courses, and other kid events, checking our phones and sighing as we see yet another blow-out loss in progress. A lot of weeks of putting the game on the TV and then switching to another one before the first quarter ends.

I just hope Leipold isn’t another total disaster, the latest in a long series. I want to believe he was the right hire. But it’s going to take more than some expert analysts lauding his track record to get me to think there’s any light at the end of the KU football tunnel.

KU Hoops

We knew this was going to be a crazy-ass off season for every college hoops program, but I’m not sure I was prepared for what has gone on in Lawrence since the blow-out loss to USC.

Five players transferred out of the program.
Marcus Garrett passed on a fifth year of eligibility.
Ochai Agbaji and Jalen Wilson are exploring their draft options. Initial expectation was that both would be back, but I’ve heard rumblings and sense some vibes on my own that at least one of them will not be back.
And then 190 new players have committed to play for KU next year. Or eight. Three of those kids were committed from the fall, four were new commits or transfers in the spring, and the eighth was a 2022 commit who decided to reclassify and come to Lawrence this summer.
KU also chased at least 10 other significant transfers or high school recruits who backed out on their initial commitments.
And in today’s KC Star, Bill Self said he could still add another player or two before next season.

It has been a dizzying two months.

The biggest addition came Monday when Arizona State’s Remy Martin – the most excellent name in college basketball! – announced that if he does not get drafted, he will play at KU next fall. Remy is a straight bucket getter, and exactly what KU needs. He’s not big, but is still an exceptional athlete and has four years of experience. Assuming he meshes with Self’s system and coaching and the personnel around him, he has the potential to make a solid KU team great.

Drake transfer Joesph Yesufu, another crazily athletic little guard, should also make a difference. Those go a long way toward meeting Self’s post-USC game goal of getting faster and more athletic. Best case is they are a smaller version of the Frank Mason III – Devonté Graham backcourt that was pretty good together.

As for the other transfers and incoming freshmen, well, I’m glad I’m not Self. I honestly don’t see how he manages the minutes to keep everyone happy next year. It’s sad when a national writer, while going through KU’s roster, already identifies two players as potential transfer candidates for next summer, and wonders if a third would join them if he doesn’t redshirt.

I get what Self is doing at the highest level: he’s trying to make next year’s team as competitive as possible. I think he hopes the freshmen who get pushed out of the rotation will take the long view and see that waiting one year to play sets them up for better success beyond that.

Self has always been relatively laid back about kids who don’t think they fit into the program leaving. It seems like he would rather them depart than become problems and relishes the challenge of trying to fill holes that open up late in the recruiting game. In other words, he’s won a lot more games than I have, so I’ll trust that he is prepared to deal with the headaches that will come with having so many talented players, plus some young players who need minutes to develop.

I struggle with this a little. I want KU to contend every season. The fluctuation in rosters is not just a KU thing this year. Recruiting has not been great the past three years due to the cloud of the NCAA investigation, and this has given Self and his staff a chance to make up for some misses.

If all these late additions don’t work out next year, though, I wonder if they were worth potentially sacrificing what was a very good freshman class and its success over the next 2–3 years. Perhaps bigger, if Self had been content to just add more freshmen and young transfers like Yesufu, he had set the program up nicely to deal with sanctions, if the NCAA ever gets around to resolving their case against KU. Now, if say a group of kids leave this time next year, that could really compound any scholarship and postseason restrictions that KU may have to deal with beyond 2022.

I have a few friends who are more perturbed by the craziness of this off-season. I get that. This feels more like the NBA free agency that what we expect from college hoops. I hope it is just a function of this one-off change in the transfer rules. However, transfer numbers have been going up for years. I think this is just what college sports are becoming, with kids committing earlier and earlier, then deciding to bail quicker and quicker when they don’t have a perfect experience once they get to campus.

At KU, Final Four banners are the standard for turning a good season into a great one. I think adding Remy, Yesufu, etc. put KU in a better position to add another banner in 2022. I hope that doesn’t set us back for 2023 and beyond.

Well, that was quick. Not too long after I first posted this, Iowa State senior Jalen Coleman-Lands announced he is transferring to KU. Which should likely ice Ochai Agbaji not returning. It could be Jalen Wilson (or both), but as Coleman-Lands is the same size as Ochai, that swap makes the most sense.

That’s a bummer from the Ochai perspective because I don’t think he’s anywhere close to being an NBA player, and it sucks for a local kid who seems like a terrific person to leave before his four years are up. But if his goal is to play in the NBA, he must have decided the best path to that is getting paid to play in the G-League, in Australia, or in Europe and not have to share the ball and go to class at KU. I hope things turn out well for him.

Speaking of swaps, I suppose this means KU traded one year of Coleman-Lands for three of Tristan Enaruna, who will be a Cyclone next year.

From my family’s perspective, the biggest part of this news is that Coleman-Lands played two years at Cathedral High School before transferring to La Lumiere Academy in LaPorte, leading the Irish to a state runner-up finish his sophomore year. I should get M and C jerseys to wear on college days next year!

He is also a year older than Svi Mykhailiuk, who just finished his third year in the NBA. Weird ass times.

KU Week in Review

March 15, 2021 /

Some week for KU sports, huh? Let’s review!

Monday: fired a football coach for the fifth time in 11 years, this time for lying/covering up allegations of allegedly/likely putting female student staff members in uncomfortable situations at his previous job. Gross.

Tuesday: Idiot athletic director gives press conference to show that he’s in control and deserves the chance to hire the next football coach. It does not go well. Well, not for him, at least. Jeff Long’s exchange about the lack of success of his last two football hires, “On the field,” with the Kansas City Star’s Sam Mellinger was likely the tipping point that led to Wednesday’s news.

Bill Self announces that David McCormack and Tristan Enaruna will not play in the Big 12 tournament because they are in the Covid–19 protocols.

Wednesday: My (and many other KU fans’) prayers are answered: KU fires idiot athletic director!

Thursday: KU makes the smart choice (for once) and names assistant football coach Emmett Jones as interim head coach. Jones has played a huge role in bringing in the best recruits KU has signed over the past three classes, is popular with the entire team, and seems best situated to keep the roster together until a new head coach is named.

Later that night the KU basketball team plays one of their best halves of the season to build a 23-point, first-half lead against Oklahoma. They blow 20 points of that lead but hold on to advance to get a third crack at Texas in the semifinals.

Friday: Self announces that an unnamed player has tested positive for Covid–19 and the team is dropping out of the Big 12 tournament. There is immediate worry about whether KU will be able to play in the NCAA Tournament.

Sunday: KU is named the #3 seed in the West region, the school’s 31st straight appearance and 20th straight top four seed. Self says, based on what he knows Sunday evening, that all but the positive player will be ready to go on Saturday afternoon.

That is one jam-packed week! I have thoughts.

Long: Thrilled he is gone. KU has made a lot of bad hires in the lsat 20 years. I’m hoping he is the last in that run and someone competent is soon running the athletic department. Not holding my breath, though.

Covid: Well, shit. KU got through the entire regular season unscathed. They had a non-conference game in December cancelled when the opponent had to shut down for a week, then had to reschedule one of the Iowa State games when the Cyclones were dealing with their issues. But KU played every Big 12 game, and never had a player or coach miss a game because of Covid. And, as the KC Star reported, the program was insanely strict about how players even interacted with their relatives after games. Then they suddenly get hit at the worst possible time.

Now all the fingers are crossed that McCormack is able to play this weekend and the one positive player, who should miss the first week of the tournament, is the only positive the team has.

NCAAs: I was a bit surprised by the three seed, but that was just because I figured the NCAA would give KU no grace if it came down to them and another squad for a seed, so I expected a four. Getting a three, or even a four, is a terrific accomplishment for a team that looked just about dead six weeks ago.

As we get more and more numbers each year, it gets easier and easier to pick apart the NCAA seedings. USC was the first one to jump out at me. In the KenPom ratings, they are eight spots higher than KU, yet are the six to KU’s three. Loyola-Chicago is ranked ninth in the KenPom ratings, but only got an eight seed. And so on.

If KU can beat Eastern Washington and play USC, I think that’s an incredibly tough matchup. USC isn’t as good as Texas, but their size and athleticism reminds me of Texas. That’s very bad for KU and means a season-ending L in the round of 32. But USC is one of those tricky teams that are loaded with talent but you can’t entirely trust them. At first glance I put them in the Elite 8, based on matchups alone. But they could easily lose to Wichita State/Drake, either of which would be a much better matchup for KU.

KU’s success will come down to health and shooting. The health is kind of out of their control at this point: if more players were exposed it’s just a matter of time before they test positive and wreck the roster. I’ve given up thinking this team will shoot as well as they should. But, as every KU fan knows, a team can get hot at any moment and go deeper than you expected.

So I’m calling a round of 32 loss. But not ruling out a Sweet 16 or even Elite 8 run if the three-point shooting swings from cold to hot.

I know the question many of you are asking this morning: with all the games in Indiana, will I be making an effort to get out and support the Jayhawks? The answer is no, and not just because the ticket situation is weird and I’m guessing none of my KU buddies will be willing to come back to watch a game this year.

The reason is we depart for Florida Saturday afternoon. I should just get to see KU’s first round game before we hop on a plane to spend a week on Anna Maria Island. I suppose I could attend a potential Elite 8 game a week from Sunday, but that’s not worth considering for longer than it took to type this sentence.

Also at first glance, it’s tough not to go chalky with my Final Four picks. There are a couple one seeds I’d like to pick against, but when I look at the twos and threes in their regions, I can’t get fully onboard either. It will take some more research and investigation before I lock those picks in.

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